680 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [8] 



cultivating the oyster. But with the exception of some new oyster cul- 

 tivators the most of the enrolled maritimes [inscrits maritimes) who 

 farm (exploitent) the pares granted by the state content themselves 

 with keeping for a very short time the oysters obtained from foot-fishing 

 {lapeche a pied) and from the dredging, to which, during the open sea- 

 son, the greater part of the population of this section devote themselves. 



About the 1st of September the seafaring men betake themselves to 

 the natural beds to fish for oysters. The foot-fishing is only productive 

 at the time of the spring tides. It is pursued by women and children, 

 who only obtain the oysters which have been torn from their natural beds 

 by the violence of the waves. 



The oyster grants of Saint- Vaast-la-Hougue, located on a miry-clay 

 deposit, comprise both depots or bedding-grounds and pares. The 

 first, to the number of forty-eight, occupy an area of 46J hectares, and 

 extend over that part of the seashore called Couleige. These are re- 

 served for the young oysters which have to grow before attaining mer- 

 chantable dimensions. The second, which are appropriated to the 

 preservation of eatable oysters, are situated in the Toquaise, and are, 

 for the most part, sheltered from the sea by the little island of Tatihou. 

 They number 137, and occupy an area of 39J hectares. 



The depots or bedding-grounds are only uncovered during the spring 

 tides. They are inclosed by walls of loose stone from 15 to 25 centi- 

 meters in height. 



The pares are also inclosed with walls of loose stone from seventy- 

 five centimeters to one meter in height, and have a thickness of from 

 two to three meters. 



Upon the approach of winter, after the small oysters from the bedding- 

 grounds have been transferred to the pares, in order to shelter them from 

 the rigors of the cold season, a layer of clay mixed with straw is rammed 

 into the interstices of the walls, which i^revents the water from draining 

 out of the pares at low tides, and the volume of water which covers the 

 oysters shelters them from the influence of the cold air and protects 

 them from freezing. The expense of maintaining these walls is borne 

 equally by the riparian proprietors. The bedding-grounds {depots) and 

 the pares are cleaned once or twice a year. This is necessary in order to 

 remove the slime that the sea has deposited, and the marine vegetation 

 which has invaded them. 



The oysters which succeed best in cultivation come from the Bay of 

 Cancale, or the natural bed of Dives ; nevertheless experiments made 

 with the oysters of Arcachon and Brittany have given good results. 



The cultivators of La Hougue are of the opinion that the parcage of 

 the oyster should not be prolonged beyond two years. The first year 

 they grow 3 or 4 centimeters. During the second the rate is slower, 

 but the oyster grows thicker and fattens. Indigenous oysters, or rather 

 those obtained in a very circumscribed radius, may be kept a longer 

 time. 



